The Hindu Business Line:
When Alex Tutwiler, 32, a mechanical engineer, gave birth to her first child she cut down on her work hours from full time to part time so that she could spend more time with her baby. Two years later, when pregnant with her second child, Alex realised how complicated her life would be if she continued her engineering job.
“I wanted to be free to find my own schedule,” she says. “I wanted to do something from home where I would be able to give more time t o my kids.”
Alex, who is based in Willow Springs, North Carolina, quit her job and decided that the ideal solution would be to start a home-based business. Like an increasing number of mothers who have started small businesses after having children, Alex is a mompreneur, balancing motherhood with her growing enterprise.
Not all mompreneurs are stay-at-home moms. But many working women feel that home-based ventures make the transition to stay-at-home motherhood easier because of the lower start-up costs and the flexibility of creating a work environment that allows more time with the kids.
Last year, Alex launched La Boutique for Kids, a mobile boutique selling clothes and accessories for babies and children. “The idea came out of my passion for shopping and hunting down bargains,” she explains. Alex’s boutique features discounted products that she feels will appeal to other moms. Another aspect of her boutique is that it is ‘mobile’: she takes her inventory to busy moms so they can enjoy a personal shopping experience in their homes.
Photo by Dan4th